Julia McDonald

1932 - 2021

Julia McDonald
September 12, 1932 - December 16, 2021
Yelm , Washington - Julia Jeanette McDonald, 89, passed away peacefully in her sleep on December 16, 2021. She spent her final days surrounded by her loving family and the caring staff at Easthaven Villa in Yelm, WA.
Julie was born on September 12th, 1932, in Seattle WA, to Roy E. and Myrell Lindblom. After graduating from Garfield High School in 1950, she went on to graduate from the University of Washington with sights of becoming a teacher. She was first married in 1953. Shortly after she started teaching, she made the decision to leave that career to start a family.
John E. McDonald, her loving husband of 39 years preceded her passing in Nov. of 2017. She is survived by a younger sister, Betty Shirey of Everett, WA, seven children, fourteen grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren.
Julie had many passions in life. She loved to be surrounded by her family, caring for animals, working in her garden, and spending quiet moments in bible study. Julie loved spending her days with her husband, John. They were best friends and cherished their time together. Julie always found physical and spiritual strength in prayer and faith in God which she hoped to pass on to her children. Julie excelled at supporting her children with their passions, always encouraging them with her positivity and faith, while raising them to be independent individuals. As a young mother, she had her first four kids while living on a farm in Copalis Crossing with no practical experience for that rural life. Her love to live in the presence of animals and working outdoors led her interests to starting a farm. Being an avid reader, she learned everything she needed to know about farming. She raised crops and livestock that included cows, a calf and chickens. Even after moving from the farm, she continued to show her love of animals and the outdoors through the rest of her life, building her own aviaries to house many varieties of birds and keeping dogs, cats, an iguana and a chameleon.
For more than 10 years, she worked tirelessly on trying to get her Satellite One project up and running. It was a tech-based education/after school program designed to help prevent kids from dropping out of school, giving a second chance to kids that had already dropped out, and kids that were educationally at risk of falling through the cracks. She also started her own business, designed and created Grown Up Dolls. She was a pivotal fundraiser for several charities in the eleventh hour to make or exceed their monetary goals. One of which was to come up with the necessary funds before the deadline to get an adult home built in Grays Harbor, WA. It was while working on that project that she met her best friend and husband, John who she married in 1978. She made it her mission to improve the lives of others, from volunteering with different causes that spoke to her through the years, to her prayer groups that sat with the ill and elderly to give them peace in their hours of need. She showed us the power of prayer and in times of need, pausing to pray provided powerful relief for her and others.
The family wishes to give thanks to the wonderful staff at Easthaven Villa, we recognize how amid short staffing and the pressures of our current health crisis, they found the time to care for Julia with love and tenderness. Julie's faith in Christ and her love for others was evident to all that knew her. Her positivity, warm heart and beaming smile, that traveled all the way to her eyes, will be missed and always remembered. A memorial and celebration of her life is planned for March.